The present invention relates to the field of lighting systems and more particularly relates to a power supply rail.
For many years, power supply rails comprising a profiled section which receives conducting strips supplying electrical contacts for receiving series of current consuming elements placed between two adjacent contacts, for example, shuttle type bulbs or soffit bulbs, have been available on the market.
The applicant has already developed rails of this type described in European patent EP-0 126 023 which relates to a system where the profiled section has two perpendicular legs comprising slots at regular interval for the passage of contacts projecting from conducting strips applied to the back of the legs of the profiled section. The spacing between the contact pairs for receiving the lamps is fixed during construction by the position of the slots made in the legs of the profiled section. The result of this is that it is necessary either to produce different types of rail depending on the length standards of the shuttle bulbs, or to use U-shaped clips making it possible to electrically connect the contacts projecting from the conducting strips to the connecting poles of the lamps used.
The present invention aims to alleviate this drawback. Its subject is a supply rail consisting of a profiled section formed by two legs capable of receiving two conducting strips, each one provided at regular intervals with electrical contacts for supplying current consuming elements placed between two adjacent contacts connected to alternate conducting strips.
The invention is characterized in that the profiled section comprises channels capable of receiving and positioning said conducting strips, the spacing between the electrical contacts of the first strip and the contacts of the second strip being positioned, using means for fastening the strips into the profiled section, depending on the dimension of the current consuming elements.
The invention also extends to a method of manufacturing a power supply rail consisting of a profiled section comprising two legs, each one intended to receive a conducting strip provided with electrical contacts at regular intervals, characterized in that two conducting strips are simultaneously slid along the legs of the profiled section, the spacing between the electrical contacts of the first strip and those of the second strip is determined depending on the dimensions of the current consuming elements used, and the conducting strips are fastened into the profiled section.
In a first embodiment, the means for fastening the strips in the profiled section consist of a V-shaped shoe capable of cooperating with the strips and of clamping means capable of cooperating with the profiled section. Furthermore, these fastening means may hold electrical connection plates between the wires supplying the rail and the conducting strips, and connection elements between two profiled sections placed end to end or forming any angle between them.
In a variant, the profiled section is made of metal, especially of aluminum. The outer surfaces of the profiled section may be provided with an insulating coating.
According to another variant, the profiled section is made of aluminum and the conducting strips are provided with an insulating coating.
In a second embodiment, comprising an insulating profiled section, the conducting strips are directly screwed or riveted to each leg of the profiled section.
The appended drawing shows, by way of nonlimiting examples, certain embodiments of the subject of the present invention.